Break
by Swing Girl At Heart
Summary: It was just supposed to be a simple, quiet camping trip, but as two beautiful and frightening strangers emerge from the woods, it takes a drastic turn for the worse. -Future, slightly AU-
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Lots of thanks to my fantastic betareader, It'sTimeToDance!

* * *

**Break**

_Chapter 1_

It was early summer, but the weather didn't seem to realize it as it sent a chilly drizzle down over Mike Newton's campsite. He grimaced at the clouds above and put more (somewhat) dry wood on the fire. He'd been hoping to get in some quiet camping time to himself over the weekend, since his mother was so excited to have him home from college that she never let him alone, and the news had said it would be sunny. Apparently, though, they had lied, and for the sole purpose of ruining his getaway. He ate his overcooked lunch in silence, pulling his raincoat tighter around his body and wondering why his food didn't really taste like food. Sighing, he swallowed last couple of mouthfuls and rinsed out the bowl with water from his canteen.

Then a noise in the woods behind him made him freeze.

Frowning, Mike stood up and pushed the hood back from his face, squinting through the damp air. The hairs on the back of his neck had stood up, but there was nothing to be seen among the dense vegetation. He shivered, dropping his bowl next to the fire, and took a couple steps towards the direction of the sound, listening as hard as he could. The only sound was the drizzle lightly hitting the leaves of the surrounding trees, and yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he was unsafe… Slightly irritated at the most recent addition to the list of things that had gone wrong with his trip, he tried to push the uncomfortable premonition to the back of his mind as he repacked his dishes in his backpack so they wouldn't collect water overnight.

He was startled by the sudden thudding of hooves behind him, and he whipped round just in time to leap out of the way of a massive buck deer as it came crashing right through his campsite.

"What the _hell?_" he swore as he watched the galloping buck disappear into the forest. The deer's strange behavior made him even more nervous – they usually went out of their way to avoid humans, even if a predator was chasing them. Hell, even the _predator_ would avoid people. What on earth could be in those woods to drive the deer to behave against its instincts?

Still on the ground where he'd landed when leaping out of the animal's path, Mike was hit by wave after wave of goose bumps, and he turned his head to watch the forest where the buck had emerged. _Something_ was in there, and he was absolutely sure that he wanted nothing to do with it.

After several moments of tense vigilance, an unfamiliar man strode out from beneath the green canopy of the trees, heading straight for him. Frowning, Mike stood up, growing increasingly agitated as the dark-haired stranger neared him, walking with unnatural speed and grace and seeming as though he was constantly on the verge of dropping into a crouch.

"Can I help you?" Mike ventured.

The man was directly in front of him much faster than Mike would have thought possible, and smiling in a way that made shivers race up Mike's spine. His teeth were a blinding white, perfectly even, and he possessed an inhuman beauty that for some reason caused Mike's stomach to flip over a few times in fear. "I think you can," the man said, his voice like velvet and his eyes a startling burgundy.

"Maybe you have some food to share?" a syrupy sweet female voice cut in.

Mike whipped his head around – a woman had materialized directly behind him, regarding him with the same unnerving red gaze and malicious smile. She was also unearthly beautiful, her waves of black hair falling nearly to her waist.

"What is this?" Mike asked, looking back and forth between the two of them and trying to keep his voice from trembling. Despite their fluid grace and beauty, he knew in his gut that these people had no intention of being friendly.

"What do you think, Sasha?" the man asked his fair accomplice, speaking as if Mike were not there. "Should we find something else with more…bulk?" The stranger's crimson eyes ran up and down Mike's frame hungrily, making him feel even more creeped out, if that was possible.

The woman's voice dropped to an eager husk as she said, "Not a chance. I'm hungry _now._"

* * *

_Mike? Can you hear me?_ a honeyed voice called in the distance, muffled as if through a wall. _Mike?_ He was barely aware of a cold hand on his forehead, a soothing touch. He attempted to mumble a reply, but it felt like his lips were glued shut, and his throat was dry and scratchy, as if he hadn't had anything to drink in several days.

_Carlisle, I think he's waking up,_ the voice said.

_Don't rush him, _a second person spoke, this one male. _I'll be right back._

Mike's whole body felt exhausted, as if he'd just hiked up a mountain with no rest stops. Gradually he realized that the reddish glow he saw was light shining through his eyelids – was it daytime? He struggled to open his eyes, but his lids felt weighted down. His brain scrambled to find his most recent memory – he could remember the clearing, camping, the rain, the deer thundering right past him. After that was nothing but blurs.

He groaned again, giving another attempt at opening his eyes. This time, they cracked open, and at first he saw nothing but blinding white.

"Mike?" the first voice said again, much clearer now. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"What happened?" he slurred, trying to adjust his eyes to the brightness.

"You don't remember?" the melodious voice asked, soft with concern.

"Um…" He blinked a few times, finally clearing his vision, and frowned when he recognized the girl leaning over him. "Bella?"

She smiled. "Hey."

His forehead creased in confusion. "You're different," he said. He was right – it was definitely the Bella he'd known in high school, whom he hadn't seen since just after graduation, but she was…breathtakingly beautiful. Eerily beautiful. She regarded him sadly; the chocolate brown eyes Mike clearly remembered were gone, the irises turned bright butterscotch. He sat up, leaning his back against the wall behind him, a nagging in the back of his head screaming that something was not right – not just with the girl looking him in the eye, but with himself. With everything.

Finally, he looked past Bella's face at the room he was in. Two walls were invisible behind bookshelves packed completely full of aged volumes, and the wall to his right was made of glass, overlooking a green, rainy landscape. He saw that he wasn't actually on a bed, but instead stretched out over a divan. It appeared as though he was in some sort of home library.

But it wasn't his unfamiliar surroundings that disturbed him so much as the fact that everything was clearer than crystal, each minute detail of any object in his line of sight emphasized tenfold. His ears picked up a symphony of sounds – the light drizzle outside hitting the trees, soft footsteps from a room somewhere below them, and what sounded like a scolding squirrel in the branches a ways off. He should not be able to hear any of those sounds. Yes, there was undoubtedly something _very_ wrong.

Mike jumped when a man appeared in the open doorway. He recognized Dr. Cullen, someone he'd occasionally run into at the hospital during his routine checkups but not somebody he was familiar with. "Oh, Michael, you're awake. Good. How do you feel?" the doctor asked, sounding as if it really wasn't good at all.

"Weird," was Mike's hesitant answer. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Bella and Carlisle exchanged a look that made the bottom of Mike's stomach twist into a knot. "Bella, why don't you let Michael and I talk for a few minutes."

She nodded, casting a furtive glance at Mike and giving him a gentle pat on the leg. As she left and Dr. Cullen took her place, Mike noticed that the clothes he was wearing were not his own.

"What happened to my clothes?"

"We had to lend you some of Edward's," the doctor said, not really answering the question. Mike blinked in surprise when he noticed that the man's eyes were the exact same color as Bella's new ones.

"Edward?" Mike echoed, his brows knitting together. "Where are we?"

"You're at our house, on the outskirts of town."

"Why?" he almost spat the word, making it clear that he wanted nothing more than his questions to be answered.

"Michael, I'm going tell you something, and I want you to listen very carefully," the doctor said, the solemnity of his tone making Mike's stomach twist even tighter. "You cannot go back home."

Mike didn't respond for a moment, frozen in place. "This has to be some kind of sick joke," he said, failing to keep his voice steady. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"I'm so sorry, Michael, but this is real." Mike clenched his jaw as the doctor continued. "The people who attacked you in the forest…tried to kill you. But Bella and Emmett stopped them. They saved you."

The memories came surging back – the taunting strangers, the pain, the fighting…

"But saving you came with a price."

"What?" Mike breathed. "What are you talking about? What price?"

Dr. Cullen placed a steady hand on Mike's shoulder as he spoke. "Michael, you are one of us now. Now, you may leave if you choose. We won't force you to stay. But your current condition will be permanent, and this is the best place for you to be."

"_Will you just tell me what's wrong with me, for Christ's sake!_" Mike yelled, frightened by the deep-throated growl beneath his words. That hadn't come from him, had it?

Despite the fear raging in his brain, Mike couldn't help but let out a short laugh at what the doctor said next.

"A _what!_ Look, Doc, if you were going to play a prank, you could have at least picked a plausible story."

Dr. Cullen sighed, his mouth set in a grim line, and he stood up, saying, "Come with me, please."

Frowning, Mike stood up, surprised at how little effort the movement took – the exhaustion was gone, disappeared as if it had never been there. He followed the doctor out of the library and down the hallway until he stopped beside a door, gesturing for Mike to go in. Still confused, Mike entered to find himself in a large bathroom, spotlessly clean and well lit. For a few moments, he had no idea why the doctor had sent him in here…and then he saw the mirror, and froze.

A young man stared back at him, flawlessly beautiful even with his face creased with horror. He bore Mike's pale blond hair, the same build, the same facial structure. And yet…it wasn't – _couldn't_ be him. The freckles on his cheeks were gone, the tiny mole on his neck… his face was completely unblemished, as pale as a corpse. And his _eyes_. The baby blues his mother had always fawned over were gone, too, and in their place the irises were a blood-curdling red.

"I'm so sorry," the doctor said again from the doorway. Mike had forgotten he was there.

Without knowing what he was doing, Mike screamed, drawing back his fist and slamming it into the deceitful reflection. The mirror shattered, silver shards cascading down as Mike tore past the doctor, his bare feet carrying him as fast as they could through the house.

"_Emmett!_" Dr. Cullen called in warning as he ran after him.

When Mike reached the bottom of the stairs, he suddenly found himself locked in Emmett Cullen's superhumanly strong hold, his arms wrapped around Mike's torso as he thrashed. "_LET ME GO!_" he snarled.

Two ice-cold hands were suddenly cupping his face, forcing him to look an unfamiliar woman in the eye. "Michael, listen to me," she said, loud but gentle. "You are _safe_ here. Do you understand me? We will protect you. There is nothing you can do right now, except stay and hear us out. Please," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Suddenly, the hysteria that was gripping every corner of his mind evaporated like water on Arabian summer sand, and he was able to absorb every word she said.

"Thank you, Jasper," the doctor said from behind them.

Emmett released his hold on Mike's body, stepping back and giving him a little more room to breathe. He looked around and realized that he was surrounded by the rest of the Cullens, and as the fear began to bubble in his stomach again, another wave of tranquility washed over him. His eyes flicked from face to face. All beautiful, all watching him with the exact same anxious topaz gaze.

It was the single most frightening thing he had ever seen.

* * *

**A/N:** So, before you start sending me a cascade of flames saying that Mike should never, ever, ever under any circumstances be a vampire, let me explain exactly where this idea came from. When Bella became a vampire, she obviously knew a lot about their lifestyle before she was landed in it herself, so she was relieved off all this extra baggage that usually comes as a package deal with the change. I wanted to see how somebody who had absolutely no clue that these creatures even existed would handle it. And before you ask, "Why Mike?", I chose him because I like him, and I think he deserves some plot dedication :) That being said, flame away, although nice reviews would also be welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Break**

_Chapter Two_

"How long have I been here?" Mike asked, his voice quiet and shaking. After several minutes of arguing, the Cullens had convinced him to sit and calm down for a while, and they were grouped on the various pieces of furniture around the living room, awkwardly silent.

"Four days," said the woman who he'd learned was Dr. Cullen's wife, Esme.

"I need to go home."

"Michael, you can't go home."

"You're new at this, Mike," Bella cut in from where she sat on the floor by Edward's feet, leaning against the hutch. "Do you have any idea how hard it will be for you to be out there?"

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the air around him compress. "I-I, uh," he stammered. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I just… I need to go."

"It's a bad idea," she pressed. "You could hurt somebody."

"I need to go home," he repeated, not wanting to know what she meant.

"Michael, this is your home now," Dr. Cullen insisted.

Mike shook his head. "No, that's— I don't even know you people. I-I can't stay here."

The doctor looked pointedly at Jasper, and again, a strange wave of calm settled over Mike. He leaned back in the chair, his ice-cold hand lightly covering his mouth as he began to truly feel the gravity of the situation pull on him. "Is anybody looking for me?" he asked.

The doctor nodded. "The whole town."

"My dad's been working day and night," Bella said.

There was another long silence until Mike asked, "So…what happened, exactly?"

"Emmett and Bella were out hunting," Dr. Cullen began. "And they heard what was happening, so they went to help you. But by the time they were able to get rid of Sasha and Thomas, you'd already been bitten in several places."

Mike remembered screaming as their teeth dug into his shoulder, his neck, his leg… the flames rapidly spreading through his body…

"The venom had already spread too much for us to be able to reverse the changes, so we helped you as much as we could through your transformation."

He flinched at the doctor's casual use of the words _venom_ and _transformation_. This had become far too elaborate – too _real_ – to be any sort of twisted practical joke. His skin was ice-cold, his eyes were blood red… there was no doubt left in his mind. There was plenty of panic, but not one shred of doubt. This made absolutely no sense.

_Reality doesn't always make sense, Mike,_ his father's voice echoed in the back of his mind.

"Michael?" Esme ventured, drawing him back to the present. "Would you like to live here? With us?"

His jaw clenched – he knew that accepting her request would mean that he was also accepting what he'd become.

"Michael, we'd like you to stay."

He cast a furtive glance at Bella, who nodded sadly but assuredly. Taking a deep breath, his hands curling into fists, he gave his answer.

* * *

Later that evening, Mike stood alone in the library where he'd awoken, watching the woods outside grow steadily dark. He was careful to avert his eyes away from his transparent reflection on the glass. Dr. Cullen had told him that they would convert the library into his own private room, and Mike hadn't known where else to go to get a quiet moment to himself. He had to sort out his thoughts as best he could.

In his frenzied confusion earlier, the Cullens hadn't told him much about his new…lifestyle (he had no idea what else to call it), and he was left to speculate. He had no idea how this worked, whatever it was. He was besieged by the memories of movies, books, myths, and even the occasional joke about vampires, never once thinking that they could hold one iota of truth, and the common theme between it all leaped out at him: vampires drank human blood.

Was he condemned to this?

"Hey," a voice from the doorway made him jump.

"Bella, hi."

She drew up beside him and watched the mist curl between the trees outside. "You all right?"

"You want the full answer?" he said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"I know this is hard for you, Mike," she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything you need?"

_Yes._ "No," he said quietly. "No, thanks."

"You want to talk?"

He sighed, looking down at his bare feet.

"Mike…I wanted to apologize. For everything." He frowned, turning to meet her gaze. "It's my fault that you're like this now, and I'm sorry."

"What – what do you mean?"

"It was either this or die, Mike," she said, wringing her hands. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't let them kill you."

Mike clamped his lips together, lacing his fingers behind his neck and closing his eyes in frustration. "I, uh… I'd like you to leave now."

Refusing to look at her, he didn't see the hurt spread across her marble face before she turned away, slipping away without a sound. Mike sat down on the edge of the divan, leaning his elbows on his knees and clamping his hands over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut. He didn't move for several minutes, relieved of having to see with perfectly unclouded sight and having to listen to the hushed conversations downstairs that all revolved around him and hearing sounds that were too far off to be heard. He listened to the sound of his steady unneeded breathing, and slowly calmed himself.

Eventually, the cushion next to him moved slightly, and he opened his eyes to see Dr. Cullen sitting next to him.

"Bella didn't deserve that," he said quietly, his face etched with sympathy.

Mike sighed heavily, thinking the opposite. "Was it her choice to make?"

"Yes, it was." The answer surprised him, and he frowned at the doctor in confusion. "Michael, you have to understand why Bella saved you. She would never have forgiven herself had she simply stood by and done nothing. She had a decision to make: to let you die a very painful death, or to save you, with the possibility that you would be able to go back to your normal life. She thought that the damage was reversible, but it had progressed too far by the time she could get to you. It is not her fault."

Mike closed his eyes again. This was far too much to handle. "So, it was either die right then, or never die at all." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes, Michael, it was."

"Stop calling me that," he growled under his breath. "Only my grandmother calls me Michael." A wave of nostalgia hit him with the thought.

The doctor smiled consolingly, squeezing his shoulder. "Mike, as far as we are concerned, you are part of this family. You can live with us for as long as you wish, and you can also leave whenever you want. As I said, we won't hold you prisoner, but I want you to know that if you leave here without any of us, and you go to a place where you are near any people, you will end up killing somebody. But if you stay here, we can teach you self-control. We can help. You don't have to be a monster."

* * *

**A/N:** So, this was kind short, sorry. Chapter Three is already written, I'm working on Chapter Four. Leave a review if you want me to update :) Again, thanks to my wonderful Beta, It'sTimeToDance. Check her out if you want to read stories better than mine!


	3. Chapter 3

**Break**

_Chapter Three_

_Three Months Later_

The phone rang shrilly in the Cullens' living room, and was picked up instantly by a cheerful Alice. "Hello?"

"_Hi, Alice, it's Charlie._"

"Oh, hey, Chief," she responded in her singsong voice. "You want to talk to Bella?"

"_Yeah, thanks._"

Bella suddenly appeared behind Alice, having heard the conversation from upstairs. "Hi, Dad. What's up?"

"_Hey, Bells. I just thought I'd call and see how you were doing, I haven't seen you in weeks._"

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "You want me to come by and hang out tomorrow? Maybe I can make dinner, give you a break from Chinese takeout."

"_That'd be great, Bells. I sure do miss having you around. Say, I also called to let you know about the latest update on the Newton case; I know he was your friend._"

This caught Bella slightly off guard, and Mike looked up from where he was reading on the sofa opposite her. "Um, yeah, what's going on? They find him?"

"_Well, no. It's just…it's been too long since he disappeared, and his parents are having him declared dead. There's almost no chance that we'll find him at this point, and he's been moved to the station's cold case files. It's just been too long, you know?_"

It was almost eerie to be talking about the death of a friend when said friend was sitting right in front of her, hanging on to every word, his forgotten book having slid to the floor. "Y-yeah," she stammered, trying to concentrate both on what her father was saying and how Mike was reacting.

Charlie sighed audibly on the other end; Bella could tell he was frustrated. "_I just can't believe a kid who spent nearly all his free time camping and hiking around here was killed by some sorta animal out of the blue. Just doesn't make sense._"

"Dad, I'm going to have to call you back later," she cut him off hastily. She could see by Mike's expression that he'd heard too much. After hanging up, she went over and sat by her newest brother, her hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"

"I guess it's official, then…" he said, his voice trailing off. "Um, I'll…I'll be right back." With that, Mike stood and walked slowly out of the house, leaving Bella alone in the living room, not knowing what to do.

Once he was outside, Mike began to walk faster, not noticing as the trees flew by. His parents were having him declared legally dead. It was the bang of the judge's gavel, the period at the end of the sentence. Three months of interacting with no one but the Cullens, of being stuck inside and only leaving to hunt or play baseball if there was a storm. Always hiding. His adopted family had made the transition much easier than it probably would have been had he been changed with nobody there to help him, and they were right – he didn't have to be a monster. It was obvious that they were proud of his determination not to submit to his instinctive craving for human blood, since he had not slain a single person and as such had the lowest number of killings on his hands out of all the Cullens. Even Bella had once surrendered to her stomach's initial demand.

Of course, this was also probably somewhat to the credit of always having to hide, even occasionally within the house. Bella's father made relatively frequent visits, and as the Chief of Police he could not be allowed to know that Mike was in fact just on the floor above rather than missing. The only visitor he didn't have to conceal himself from was Jacob Black, who sometimes came to see Bella and was sworn to absolute secrecy. Obviously, he wouldn't have been able to tell anybody outside the reservation what had become of Mike without being institutionalized, but they'd made him swear anyways.

Carlisle had explained to Mike that they would move soon, to someplace where they weren't known so that he wouldn't have to live like someone under house arrest any more, but if they left so soon after his disappearance it would draw attention. And so they waited.

Living with the Cullens was simple: they went hunting roughly every week or so, played baseball whenever there was a storm, and other than that, he occupied himself around the house. He'd never read so many books in his life as he had in the past three months. After working through the initial resentment he'd had for them, Mike had developed very different relationships with each of his new family members, and was slowly warming up to the notion that he was now a Cullen himself. Carlisle he naturally viewed as a father figure, and Esme as a mother. Emmett was good fun, and provided most of the humor in Mike's new life as well as being his usual hunting partner. Alice went out of her way to keep him occupied with book suggestions, chess and card games (which she always won), and animated conversation whenever she saw that he was feeling down. Edward kept his distance for the most part, and Mike had a feeling it was partly due to the fact that they had disliked each other when they'd been in school, but they at least shared an occasional talk. Rosalie had been surprisingly nice to him, always choosing him for her team in baseball. Jasper he was not close to, but was on better terms with than Edward, and although Mike remained closest to Alice, he eventually settled into something similar to his original friendship with Bella.

Mike had only been into Forks once, a week ago, when he was so sick of being cooped up that Alice had agreed to take him with her when she went shopping, as long as he stayed in the car. While she was occupied he'd watched the people on the sidewalk go about their daily lives, and as nice as it had been to get out of the house for even a little while, the trip had been nerve-wracking. He could smell the tempting fragrance of warm blood every time somebody passed by the window, and it had only gotten worse when Jessica, Lauren, and Angela, back for the summer holidays, had suddenly walked past, forcing him to duck low and pray that they hadn't seen him. He remembered listening to their lively chatter as they strolled by. It wasn't an unusual conversation by any standards, but it had made him realize just how much he missed normalcy. And then he'd wondered if any of his friends actually missed him.

He wondered this again as he continued to walk through the woods towards town. Miserably, he estimated how many of them would show up to his funeral service, and how many would be crying.

So deep in thought was he that he didn't notice when he emerged from beneath the trees and crossed the two-way road that headed out of Forks and towards Port Angeles, walking directly into the path of a fast-approaching Suburban. When the driver honked urgently, Mike's reflexes kicked in, and he sped into the woods on the other side of the street as the car swerved onto the shoulder and skidded to a stop, spewing gravel from beneath its tires. Had Mike been human, he wouldn't have had time to move out of the way, so he watched the driver's reaction as he confusedly climbed out of the car, looking up and down the road for any trace of the boy who had just vanished into thin air.

* * *

"_Hello?_"

"Hey, Jessica, it's Rachel Newton," said the young girl holding her cell phone to her ear as she leaned on the railing of her front porch.

"_Oh, Rachel,_" said Jessica, her tone dropping to a more serious note than her usual bubbly manner. "_Hi. How're you doing?_"

Rachel decided to avoid the question. "Listen, I just called to let you know that we're having a service for Mike, and—"

"_Wait, the – the police are giving up?_" Jessica interrupted.

The younger girl ran her hand through her blond curls in agitation, not wanting to have a conversation about her dead brother with someone she'd never really liked. "Yeah, they, um…they said that since they haven't found him by now, then the chances of him ever being found are… well, they're not good."

"_But there is still a chance,_" Jessica pressed, a trace of ire slipping into her voice. "_I mean, how can they give up as long as there's still a chance?_"

Rachel's patience ran out here, and she snapped, "Jessica, all they found of him was a torn coat and a lot of blood. That was three months ago. Mike is gone, and he's gone for good, all right?" If his own sister had figured this out and accepted it, why couldn't his ex?

There was a stunned pause on the other end.

It occurred to Rachel then that Jessica hadn't learned the details of what the search parties had discovered, and she immediately felt guilty. "Look, Jessica…" she began again. "The service is being held a week from Sunday. I know he'd want you be there."

"_Um…yeah,_" Jessica replied, still taken aback. "_Yeah, sure. I'll spread the word._"

At that moment, Rachel jumped in shock, Jessica forgotten as her phone slipped out of her hand and into the rhododendron bush below. She didn't bother to look for it, though, since what she had seen across the street was far more disconcerting. Her eyes wide and her brows knitted in confusion, she slowly descended the porch steps and walked to the edge of the front yard, keeping her eyes on the tree line on the opposite side of the street.

She had seen him. She was absolutely certain.

He…he'd been standing there, just beneath the canopy of the woods, and then – then he was gone.

Her mouth setting into a determined line, Rachel marched across the wide strip of pavement and pushed her way through the waist-deep ferns carpeting the forest floor.

She was _not_ crazy. She was _not_ hallucinating. She wasn't.

"Mike?" she called as she walked, feeling slightly ridiculous. "You here?"

There was no reply, and the silence was deafening. Not even a bird's song or a squirrel's chatter disturbed the quiet, all noises from the street muffled by the dense, moss-covered vegetation.

She ground her teeth and started again, stopping where she stood and not caring that her shoes had sunk two inches into the mud. "Mike, if you can hear me, listen. It's okay. Wherever you've been…whatever you've been doing, it's okay. You can come home. We miss you, Mike, so please. Come home."

Rachel stood where she was, waiting, for a long time, wishing that he would materialize again but also hoping he wouldn't. Because how could he explain himself if he really was alive? What excuse could he possibly give for what he had done, if that were the case? Finally, she swallowed the massive lump in her throat and turned to go back to the house.

And high above her, in the forest canopy, her brother crouched on a branch, his hand clamped over his mouth and nose as he fought the pressing desire to leap down and make his presence known. But he knew of both outcomes of that action, and he was afraid that the pleasing fragrance of his sister's life pulsing in her veins would be too much. Only one thought was in his mind as his fingernails dug into the bark of the tree:

He would not feed now. He would not feed on her.

* * *

Mike didn't know how long he sat there, but it was after dark when light footsteps sounded on the forest floor beneath him. "I thought you'd be here," Alice called up to him.

"You mean you saw that I'd be here," he said dryly.

She smiled sheepishly, quickly saying, "I wanted to give you some time to think," before leaping into the lower branches and fluidly climbing until she was sitting cross-legged across from him. "You made the right decision, you know. You could have hurt her."

He nodded silently, not meeting her gaze.

"Mike, I'm proud of you," Alice stated. "That was an incredibly hard thing to do."

"I could have told her. I should have."

Alice shook her head mournfully. "No, Mike, that would have made things so much more tangled and confusing than they already are. Especially for your family."

"Easy for you to say," Mike said bitterly. "You couldn't even remember your life when you were changed."

"You know perfectly well that I'm not speaking from personal experience," Alice told him sternly, subtly referring to her unusual ability.

He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation, knowing that she was right. Alice was always right - it was one of the most charming things about her, but also one of the most vexing.

"Come on, Mike, let's go," she said, giving him a comforting pat on the knee before jumping down to the ground.

Heaving a sigh, he followed suit, and they began the short trek back to what wasn't home, but would have to do for now.

* * *

**A/N:** As always, thanks to It'sTimeToDance and lots of reviews would be lovely :)


	4. Epilogue

**A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, been busy with school, etc. But, I only seem to have one reader anyways, so... not many to disappoint, huh? Thanks to Endless Raindrops, for being my faithful reader/reviewer :)**

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* * *

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_Epilogue_

_Twenty-Four Years Later_

_Peaks Island, Maine_

"You know, you don't have to do this now, Mike," Alice told her nervous younger brother, who sat beside her in the passenger seat as rain spattered the windshield.

Mike wrung his hands, casting an anxious glance out the window at the small colonial-style house they were parked across the street from. "I don't have to do this at all," he replied. "But I'm going to, and it's going to be today."

"We have all the time in the world," she told him with a smile.

"Yeah, but _she_ doesn't."

"Point taken. But are you just going to sit here and do nothing all afternoon? Because, if so, then I have—"

"Some shopping to do, no doubt," he finished for her, staring at the mailbox reading _Jarred_.

Alice grinned and tried again. "If you are just going to do nothing, then I will kick you out of this car, and you can sit in the rain until I come back to pick you up."

"Oh, what the hell," Mike grumbled, throwing the door open and stepping out into the downpour.

Alice rolled down the passenger-side window, calling, "I'll be back at seven, okay?"

"Got it," Mike nodded. "Thanks for bringing me, Alice."

She gave him an encouraging smile and drove off, her taillights eventually disappearing into the gloomy weather. Mike grimaced up at the sky – his hair was already soaked as he headed across the street towards the house. There was no car in the driveway and no lights in the windows, so he sat down on the porch steps to wait and to get his thoughts in order.

For the past two and a half decades, he'd remained exactly the same. He'd repeated high school and college more times than he liked to admit, and knew all the courses backwards. He and the Cullens had moved from place to place, living in Alaska, Washington, Canada, and countless other places shrouded by clouds and rain. The superhuman life really wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and Mike wanted nothing more than to see the hair on his temples go grey. Two weeks ago he had celebrated his forty-fourth birthday, but time had kicked him off the wagon, leaving him to watch as the world changed around him. And now, he waited.

The rain streamed off the porch roof in rivulets, splashing on the stone-paved walk at his feet and soaking the bottoms of his pant legs. Finally, an old minivan turned into the drive, and Mike stood up, shaking the water out of his hair and off his leather jacket. A little brown-haired girl, about four or five, jumped out of the back seat, running up to the house but stopping in her tracks when she saw Mike.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

The woman who'd stepped out of the driver's seat walked up behind her, resting a protective hand on the girl's shoulder. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Mrs. Jarred?" he asked, ignoring the fragrance of their blood with the ease of practice.

"Yes?"

"Might I have a word?"

She frowned apprehensively at him, and said, "Grace, go inside."

"But—"

"Don't argue with me, go inside. I'll be there in a minute, okay?" Once the girl had disappeared into the house, the woman stepped up onto the porch next to Mike, keeping her eyes level with his. "What is it that you want?"

"I'd like to talk to you."

"About what?" Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. "Are you the police? IRS?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm not an official."

"Then who are you?"

He let the formal façade drop completely. "It's me, Rachel," he said, his eyes turning pleading.

Her eyes widened slightly, but she said, "I'm sorry, I don't know you."

"It's Mike," he insisted.

Her lower lip trembled, and she shook her head vigorously. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I'd appreciate it if you left."

She circled around him towards the door, but he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Please."

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, her voice low and trembling.

"What am I supposed to say, Rachel?" he asked. "What can I say to convince you? That you used to steal the candy from my Easter basket every year and Mom never caught you? That I got you a doll for your eighth birthday and you threw it at me, screaming that you wanted a baseball bat?"

Her eyes widened even further, and she backed away from him. "I don't know what the hell you're playing at, but you'd better get the fuck off my property before I call the police."

"Please don't do that, Rachel," he said. "Look, can we just…sit down for a bit? Hear me out. Please."

Her fearful eyes brimmed with tears. "I'm going crazy," she whispered after a long silence.

Mike shook his head. "No. No, you're not."

Hesitantly, Rachel reached up, her hands caressing his face. "You look exactly the same…" she said, almost to herself.

"I am the same."

"But you…you were _dead_," she said. "God, what happened to you?"

Mike smiled slightly, reaching up and taking her hands in his. "It's a very long story," he sighed, his voice heavy with regret. "I'm so sorry, Rachel."

Tears were now streaming freely down her cheeks. "Why didn't you come back?" she sobbed.

"I wanted to," he told her. "I was dying to, really, but…" He trailed off, not wanting to tell her the truth.

"Mike, it's been almost twenty-five _years_ since you disappeared! What was so damn important that you couldn't come home?!" she cried. "Do you have any idea what you did to us?"

"I know, I'm so sorry," he repeated. "Please, Rachel, you have to believe me when I say that I couldn't come back."

Now, Rachel turned furious, yanking her hands out of his. "Bullshit!" she shouted, still crying. "You could _always_ come home! But instead, you pulled a Huckleberry Finn and ran away! What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

Here, Mike's jaw dropped slightly. "You think I _faked_ my death?"

"Mommy?" a small voice interrupted. Mike and Rachel both turned to see little Grace just on the other side of the screen door, watching their fight with wide eyes. "What's going on?"

Rachel sniffed, wiping her face on her sleeve and opening the door, guiding Grace back inside. "Go up to your room, sweetie. This man and I are just going to talk for a bit, okay? Just go play in your room."

After Grace had gone upstairs, Rachel returned to the porch, her lips clamped together as she tried to stop them from quivering.

"She's beautiful, Rach," he said.

"Thanks," she replied tightly. "She looks like her dad."

Mike shook his head. "She looks like you."

"Stop it," Rachel said. "Just tell me one thing: after today, are you going to disappear again? Because, if you do--"

"I'll visit as often as possible," he interrupted.

"Why didn't you before?"

"It wasn't safe."

"_Safe? _ What—?"

"Safe for _you._"

Rachel stopped short at this, regarding Mike with a frightened and worried frown. "Do I want to know what you're mixed up in?" she asked slowly, imagining all sorts of the worst scenarios she could think of: drug running, gang wars, FBI nonsense.

Mike looked pained. "No, you don't."

"We can get you help," she said, continuing even though Mike was shaking his head unhappily. "We can call the police; whatever you've been caught up in—"

"No, Rachel, stop."

"Mike, we can get you out, I promise—"

"_No!_" Rachel shut her mouth, taken aback by his unexpectedly fierce response. His features softened again and he hung his head. "I'm sorry. Just don't…don't make promises you can't keep. This is for good."

Rachel swallowed visibly, having no idea what he meant but hating the truthful strain in his voice. Whatever this was, she knew that he didn't deserve it.

"Look, Rachel, I want you to do something for me," he said. "This needs to be kept a secret; for your sake as much as mine. Pretend you never saw me. I'll come back soon, I promise."

He checked his watch, and just as the hands turned to indicate seven o'clock, Alice's sleek black car pulled up once again to the curb. Rachel frowned at it, unsure of what to think or do. "I have to go," he said, drawing Rachel's gaze back to him.

"Who is that?" she demanded.

"I have to go," he repeated, heading down the steps.

Rachel's hand reached out and pulled him back. "Wait, Mike," she said, her eyes brimming again. With that, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her fragile human body as tightly as he dared. "I'm so sorry," he told her quietly.

"I love you," she choked out.

He kissed her gently on the forehead before breaking the embrace and walking towards the car, casting one last sorrowful glance over his shoulder before climbing into the passenger seat. Rachel didn't bother to hide her crying as the car pulled away, eventually disappearing round the corner and heading west, towards the dock where the ferry would take them back to the mainland.

"Mommy?" Grace called again from inside.

Quickly, Rachel wiped all traces of her tears away, sniffed, and prayed that her eyes weren't too red before going back in. "Who was that guy, Mom?" her daughter asked.

"Just an old friend, sweetie."

"Is he gonna come back?"

Rachel paused before answering, and came to the heart-wrenching realization that Mike had lied. _Don't make promises you can't keep_, Mike's voice echoed in her head. But that's exactly what he'd done. This evening had been his chance to say goodbye before he vanished completely; something that hadn't been given to either of them the first time around. She would never see him again.

She could barely muster up the words, "No, I don't think he will, hon," before she began sobbing.

~END~

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**A/N: Woot! Finally finished! So, review, and then look at the next chapter, which is the original oneshot I had written, with its alternate ending.**


	5. Original Oneshot

**A/N: So, this is the original version of _Break_, which I actually kind of like better than the newer one. It'll be exactly the same for about the first half, and then it will change dramatically. I sort of got caught up in the storyline that you just finished reading, so this fell off the table. But I figured you might still like to read it :) Again, thanks to Endless Raindrops.**

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It was summer, but the weather didn't seem to realize it as it sent a chilly drizzle down over Mike Newton's campsite. He grimaced at the clouds above and put more (somewhat) dry wood on the fire. He'd been hoping to get in some quiet camping time to himself over the weekend, since his mother was so excited to have him home from college that she never let him alone, and the news had said it would be sunny. Apparently, though, they had lied, and for the sole purpose of ruining his getaway. He ate his overcooked lunch in silence, pulling his raincoat tighter around his body and wondering why his food didn't really taste like food. Sighing, he shoved the last couple of mouthfuls into his mouth and rinsed out the bowl with water from his canteen.

Then a noise in the woods behind him made him freeze.

Frowning, Mike stood up and pushed the hood back from his face, squinting through the damp air. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, but there was nothing to be seen among the dense vegetation. He shivered, dropping his bowl next to the fire, and took a couple steps towards the direction of the sound, listening as hard as he could. The only sound was the drizzle lightly hitting the leaves of the surrounding trees, and yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he was unsafe… Slightly irritated at the most recent addition to the list of things that had gone wrong with his trip, he tried to push the uncomfortable premonition to the back of his mind as he repacked his dishes in his backpack so they wouldn't collect water overnight.

He was startled by the sudden thudding of hooves behind him, and he whipped round just in time to leap out of the way of a massive buck deer as it came crashing right through his campsite.

"What the _hell?_" he swore as he watched the galloping buck disappear into the forest. The deer's strange behavior made him even more nervous – they usually went out of their way to avoid humans, even if a predator was chasing them. Hell, even the _predator_ would avoid people. What on earth could be in those woods to drive the deer to behave against its instincts?

Still on the ground where he'd landed when leaping out of the animal's path, Mike was hit by wave after wave of goose bumps, and he turned his head to watch the forest where the buck had emerged. _Something_ was in there, and he was absolutely sure that he wanted nothing to do with it.

After several moments of tense vigilance, a man appeared and strode out from beneath the green canopy of the trees, heading straight for him. Frowning, Mike stood up, growing increasingly agitated as the dark-haired stranger neared him, walking with unnatural speed and grace and seeming as though he was constantly on the verge of dropping into a crouch.

"Can I help you?" Mike ventured.

The man was directly in front of him much faster than Mike would have thought possible, and smiling in a way that made shivers race up Mike's spine. His teeth were a blinding white, perfectly even, and he possessed an inhuman beauty that for some reason caused Mike's stomach to flip over a few times in fear. "I think you can," the man said, his voice like velvet and his eyes a startling burgundy.

"Maybe you have some food to share?" a syrupy sweet female voice cut in.

Mike whipped his head around – a woman had materialized directly behind him, regarding him with the same unnerving red gaze and malicious smile. She was also unearthly beautiful, her waves of black hair falling nearly to her waist.

"What is this?" Mike asked, looking back and forth between the two of them and trying to keep his voice from trembling. Despite their fluid grace and beauty, he knew in his gut that these people had no intention of being friendly.

"What do you think, Sasha?" the man asked his fair accomplice, speaking as if Mike were not there. "Should we find something else with more…bulk?" The stranger's eyes ran up and down Mike's frame hungrily, making him feel even more creeped out, if that was possible.

The woman's voice dropped to an eager husk as she said, "Not a chance. I'm hungry _now._"

Mike's heart began to race as they drew closer, and then it all happened very fast.

A savage roar, louder than any noise he had ever heard before, shook the leaves above their heads, and something else streaked out of the woods, knocking the woman across the clearing and into a tree. The tree snapped in half, falling over with a booming crack, but the woman seemed to be completely uninjured, albeit annoyed at the interruption. Then, in the blink of an eye, the man was also attacked by a similar force, so fast it was almost impossible to see. Mike staggered backwards a few steps before tripping and falling where he was, unable to take his eyes off the whirling struggle taking place before his eyes. It was hard to discern what was happening, they were moving too quickly, but as far as he could tell, the newcomers were winning.

Suddenly, the man was thrown downhill, rolling easily back onto his feet and not seeming to notice that the ground had been torn up where he'd fallen. Only a second later, the woman was given the same courtesy, and she crashed down the hill for several feet before landing gracefully in a predatory crouch. Faster than Mike would have thought possible, the newcomers appeared in front of them, forming a barricade between the strangers and Mike.

All Mike could see of the newcomers was their backs, but he could tell that they were younger than the man and woman, one male and one female. The male was enormous, looking as though he was made of pure muscle, and leaning forward aggressively, making his presence known in every way possible. The girl was smaller, more delicate, her long brown hair was tied back out of her face, and yet somehow she was just as threatening.

"You protect a _human?_" the first man said, astonished. The way he spat the word sent shivers racing up Mike's spine.

An angry snarl ripped from the girl's throat. "This territory has been claimed," she snapped with such ferocity that the man actually backed up a step.

"So you want it for yourself?" he guessed, still incredulous. "This is most irregular! What makes you think it's worth so much?" It took Mike a moment to realize that the 'it' referred to him. He shuddered again. Was this just a fight over prey?

"If we ever catch you hunting in this area again, you will be _very_ sorry," the girl's Herculean partner growled. "I wouldn't risk it if I were you."

A tense silence stretched the air and made it hard to breathe for a few moments, until the man finally backed down, sliding out of his crouch and into a more natural pose. "Very well. Let's go, Sasha."

The woman gave a furious hiss, which was promptly returned with another lion-like snarl from the girl, before yielding, following the man as he turned and glided down the hill, vanishing under the dense canopy. As soon as they were gone, the newcomers seemed to relax, and turned around to face the human they had defended.

When he saw their faces, Mike involuntarily gasped.

"Hi, Mike."

"Jesus Christ…" he breathed. "Bella."


End file.
